Alt-week 1.26.13: quadruple DNA helixes, Byzantine mutants and battling hospital bugs

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days. In isolation, this week's stories are all pretty notable, but if you put them together, it begins to sound a lot like the plot of a movie. Four-stranded DNA, a database of alien planets, a new super-chemical to kill hospital bugs and a byzantine gamma-radiation blast. You can almost picture the plucky heroine trying to unpick the galactic conspiracy before someone loses an eye -- and if you've alread...